Producer and dance music artist
Jay-J (
Joseph John Hernandez) captured the attention of the electronic music world through his original releases and collaborations with important artists, dance music insiders and outsiders alike. He opened Moulton Studios in 1998 in hopes that his control of a world-class facility could steer dance music's stylistic future. Since he opened Moulton Studios,
Jay-J was solicited for production and collaboration by labels based in San Francisco, Chicago, New York and the U.K.
Jay-J got his first taste of widespread success in engineering for San Francisco-based artist
Naked Music. Moulton Studios soon became a singular force in forging the San Francisco house sound through collaborations with
Miguel Migs,
KasKade,
Marques Wyatt, Halo, and others.
Jay-J also enjoyed a good deal of crossover success, remixing for
Joss Stone,
Alicia Keys,
David Gray, and
Lil' Kim. He received a Grammy nomination in 2003 for his remix of
Jill Scott's single "He Loves Me." In 2006, he was seen by millions when he performed live on MTV Australia's Video Music Awards program.
Jay-J's cutting-edge use of recording technology caught the attention of equipment manufacturers as well. Digidesigns, Sony Oxford, and Apple all featured his works as theme music for their sound design applications.
Jay-J's mix albums, like Reflections and Loveslapped, continued to chart the stylistic course for West Coast dance music. He released a pair of studio albums, Love Alive and Electronic Discussions, respectively, in 2009 and 2011. ~ Evan C. Gutierrez